Improvement in construction of railways



W. S. MORROW.

Improvement in Construction of Rallways. NO.127,910. PatentedJuneH,1872.

Witnesses: 1, Inventor UNIT D STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

.IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 127,910, dated June 11, 1872.

Too whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. MORROW, of N ewville, in the county of Cumberland and in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Railways; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon making a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction of railways in sections, each section being composed of two parallel rails with a connecting tie all cast, or otherwise formed in one piece. It also consists in the construction of said rails, the mode of fastening the sections together, and in the means whereby their ends, if projecting considerably beyond the connecting-tie, are braced, all of which will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which myinvention appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation referring to the annexed drawing, in which- Figure 1 is an end view of one of the sections. Fig. 2 is a plan view, showing several sections connected together; Fig. 3 shows how the same construction may be applied to street railroads; Fig. 4 represents a modification of the joint between the adjoining rails andFigs. 5, -6, and 7 represent the means whereby the ends of the rails may be braced.

A A represent two parallel rails connected by a tie, B, of any suitable form and size, said rails and tie being cast, rolled, or otherwise formed in one piece, and form one section of my railway. The tie B has on its under side a longitudinal downward-projectingrib, Q, as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the strength of the tie is materially increased, and whereby also it is held more firmly in its place on the road-bed. The rails A A may be of the form of theusual T-rail, as shown in Fig. 1, or, as shown in Fig. 2, of perfectly straight bars having the ends enlarged or made thicker, the bulge or swell being on the outerside of the rail. In one end a dovetailed joint, as shown. Fish-plates D D are placed at the joints on both the outside and inside, and fastened by bolts d d in the usual manner. By thus making each section (that is, the two rails and connecting-tie) in one piece, the rails cannot become loose and change their positions, and even should the nuts and bolts become loose the dovetailed joints will hold the sections together and prevent any accidents untilnew bolts or nuts can be put on or the old ones tightened.

Although I consider this dovetailed joint new, and claim the same, still I do not want to be confined to the same exclusively, as other forms-of joints may be used-for instance, a lap-joint, d, as shown in Fig. 4 may be used, said lap-joint being formed out of the regular thickness of the rail, or in enlargements, the same as described for the joint a b. The rails A A maybe of any'length de sired, and if they extend beyond the tie Bfar enough to need additional braces, then a corrugated bar, E, shown in Fig. 7, is placed across the track at the joints of the sections, and firmly secured'to the same, formingfas it were, an additional tie'between the ties B B or a corrugated bross-brace, G, as shown in Fig. 5, made in one piece, may be used inplace of the bar E if the length of the rails should make the same necessary.

For street-railroads the inner fish-plates D are dispensed with, and in their places are used straight-bars H, running along the inner sides and the entire length of. the rails.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The construction of a railway in sections, each section being composed of two parallel .r'ailswith flat-supporting and connecting-ties,

arranged at 'intervals between the rails, and

-all cast or otherwise formed in one section,

substantially as herein set forth.

V 2. The rails A A, formed with their connecting-tie B in one piece, and the adjoining rails conneeted'by means of dovetailed joints to b, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

3. In combination with a sectional railway, each section composed of two parallel rails with a connecting-tie, all in one piece I claim the intermediate braces E or G, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

4. In combination with a sectional railway,

each section composed of two parallel rails with a connecting-tie, all made in one piece, I claim the bars H running along the inner sides and the entire length of the rails, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of March 1872.

WM. S. MORROIV.

Witnesses:

J. M. MAsoN, 0. M. ALEXANDER. 

